A look at SCV crime numbers for 2017

Sheriff Jim McDonnell held a live broadcast Thursday to announce an overall drop in crime as the year-end numbers from 2016 compared to 2017.

Countywide, between January 1 and December 26, Part I offenses, which include criminal homicide, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, grand theft auto, and arson, preliminary data showed an overall 4.6 percent decline with 73,431 incidents. This compares to 77,007 reported Part I incidents for the same

period last year.

“Today, I’m pleased to report significant decreases in crime rates across L.A. County,” Sheriff Jim McDonnell said Thursday, in reference to the Part I crime drop. “This represents nearly 3,600 fewer violent crimes or property crimes committed this year.”

Locally, Part I crime reports -which includes everything from property crimes, such as burglaries and arson, to violent crimes, like aggravated assaults and homicides -- have seen a slight uptick in year-to-date statistics. The numbers indicate that overall reports of Part I crimes in city limits over the last year, reflect a 1.4 percent increase, and a 4.4 percent increase in the unincorporated areas.

The data available online Friday included reports the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had received as of Nov. 30.

By far the most common crime in the Santa Clarita Valley is larceny/theft, such as shoplifting, with there being 2,288 reported thefts in year-to-date statistics in 2016, and 2,402 reported in year-to-date statistics for 2017.

The following looks at a sampling of the data as it’s organized by the Sheriff’s Department, for the most serious offenses, such as homicides and assaults.

Homicides

The year-to-date data available from the Sheriff’s Department on its website indicates the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station officials responded to six reported homicides this year (which are investigated by the Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau, not at the station level).

The reported homicide victims included: Josue Salvadore Antonez, 29, who was stabbed to death; Christine Himmel, 46, who was stabbed to death; Tron Scott Mayo, 31, who was also stabbed to death; Brayan Rodriguez, 20, who was strangled; Ivan Solis, 25, who was shot to death; and Steven Ryan Valenzuela-Hughes, 27 who was also shot to death.

It’s the exact same number of homicides that Sheriff’s Station officials responded to in 2016

Forcible rape

Reports of forcible rapes were down significantly within city limits, but on the rise in the unincorporated areas, The unincorporated communities of the Santa Clarita Valley (those outside city limits) include: Acton, Castaic and Stevenson Ranch. To date in 2017, there has been 33 reports of such assaults in city limits, compared to 48 at the same time last year. In the unincorporated communities, there were 9 reported in 2016, and 17 reported so far in 2017, which represented an 86 percent uptick.

Robberies

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials reported that there were 126 robberies at this point in 2016, and 134, including both within city limits and unincorporated areas, so far this year. 111 of those robberies were reported in city limits, according to data available from LASD.org.

Aggravated assaults

There were 204 total aggravated assaults reported to the station -- both inside and outside city limits -- by this time last year, and 220 so far this year.